History of Postcards

• Origins
• Theatrical Cards

As the basis of this website is my collection of Edwardian actress photo postcards, it seemed appropriate to include a page telling the story of how those postcards originated. This then, very briefly, is the story of the history of the photo postcard up to the Edwardian era.

Postcards, as distinct from letters, were first used in Austria from around 1869. The idea behind their introduction was to provide a cheap means for brief communications. Since postcards were lighter and more easily handled than letters, due to their standard size, they could be offered at a lower postal rate. They proved very popular with the public and were soon copied by other European countries, including Great Britain.

The postcard was first introduced to Great Britain in 1870. At first they were just plain unadorned cards, with the address to be written on one side and the message on the other, and could only be issued by the Post Office with a pre-printed 'stamp'. It was not until 1894 that the Post Office relinquished its monopoly on the publishing of postcards, and allowed their private publication for use with an adhesive stamp as proof that postage had been paid. This led the way to the widespread introduction of illustrated postcards, but since the Post Office still insisted that one side be used for the address only, the size of any illustration was limited by the need to reserve at least some space on which to write the message. Picture postcards of this type might allow space for only the very briefest of messages. Because of this, and the poor range of subject matter (mainly limited to seaside and city views), picture postcards did not immediately become a big success.

Undivided photographic card with minimal message space below photo.

The major change that allowed the introduction of picture postcards as we still know them today came about in 1902 when the Post Office gave the green light to the divided back postcard (a British innovation). On this kind of card, the message and the address are contained on one side of the card, usually with a dividing line down the centre, thereby freeing up the whole of the other side of the card on which the publishers could print a full-size photo or artwork. Many early photographic cards were printed in Germany since photo-reproduction was more advanced there than elsewhere on the continent. This simple innovation of the divided back card led to a massive proliferation of the types of cards available as the publishers explored different subject matter, from places to people, and cartoons to fine art. From then on, postcards exploded in popularity, and they quickly became the standard medium for transmitting short messages, often as a precursor to a full letter. They were cheap and reliable, and could be used to set up appointments with just one days notice. They also became collectors items, people bought them to keep as souvenirs and exchange with friends as releatives, so that the card itself often became the reason for the communication as well as the means of its carriage.

Divided photographic card with message and address on same side.

Of course postcards had one great disadvantage as a means of communication, they were open, not enclosed in an envelope, so that anyone might read the message they contained. Of course there were ways around this. People commonly wrote their message upside down to the address or sideways on so that the postman or anyone else handling the card might not read the message 'accidentally'. Some went further, even making use of simple ciphers to keep their missives private (see my 'Messages' page for some examples). But the postcard was only intended for short messages anyway, more detailed and more private communications could follow be letter, so the popularity of the postcard was unhindered by this drawback.

With many different genres of subject matter available, the public of course voted with their pennies and soon the theatre became established as one of the most popular and best selling themes. Theatre cards encompassed photographs of theatre buildings, scenes from plays, and posed portraits of players. Of these, it was the actresses, who included some of the most beautiful women of their day, that sold the most. The theatre itself welcomed the advent of the photo postcard with open arms. It elevated many of their players to be the superstars of their day and made their faces instantly recogniseable to the public at large, whether they had seen any of their plays or not. This fuelled a desire to see their favourites in action which then swelled the box-offices at the many theatres. For the stars themselves it was a welcome form of extra income as the more financially astute among them signed often quite lucrative contracts with the postcard companies.

Rows upon rows of glossy postcards of theatrical beauties would be displayed in the windows of the stationers shops. The monotone ones sold for 2d (two old pence), whilst the coloured ones sold for 3d. Since there was as yet no colour photography the coloured cards had to be hand tinted. The colouring would be left to the imagination of the artist since he did not have the star herself as a model, and the quality and accuracy of their renditions varied enormously. Some would have very bold splashes of colour giving the actress a bright red dress which leapt out from the picture in a most unrealistic way, others would be more subtle and so delicately painted as to be absolutely lifelike. Some would be sprinkled with glitter which followed neckline or hemline etc. of the dress which the actress wore. Furthermore, two identical photographs of the same actress might be painted quite differently by different artists; one might interpret the dress in pastel blue, the other in tones of orange and gold. The poses in which the actresses were photographed commonly depicted them in characters from their current productions, or resting at home, or enjoying their favourite leisure activity, or posing with their children or their pets.

Boldy overpainted card, subtly painted naturalistic card, card with glitter highlights

The boom in the popularity of postcards was not to last long however. The outbreak of war in 1914 led to a change in the subject matter on offer and picture postcards never thereafter regained their popularity. For theatrical cards in particular, their popularity had already begun to wane after around 1908, although they continued to be produced and used in lesser numbers for some years after. During those few years that the craze lasted however, many thousands of cards had been passed through the postal system every week, and many of these, as well as many more that were postally unused, ended up lovingly cared for in someone's postcard album. Thanks to the collecting craze hundreds of thousands of these cards have survived to this day. Without them this website would never even have been thought of.